If you’ve been anywhere near a bookstore, library or BookTok feed in the last five years, you’ve probably encountered a growing crowd of fae, dragon riders and fated mates of various magical persuasions. These are among the hallmarks of romantasy, the crossover genre that blends the passion and spice of romance with the escapism and high-stakes drama of fantasy.
The definition of romantasy is hotly contested and refers, at its narrowest, to romance-first stories with a secondary world (or “high fantasy”) setting. This list takes a more expansive approach, recognizing the slipperiness of genre boundaries and the many branches of the romantasy family tree (which includes what others might call paranormal romance, science fiction or historical fantasy). These books draw from a broad range of genre traditions: the Gothic literature of Mary Shelley and Sheridan Le Fanu, the urban fantasy trend of the 1990s (to say nothing of the urban fantasy revival of the 2010s), fairy tales, mythology, young adult fiction and the richly imagined worlds of fantasy and science fiction luminaries like Mercedes Lackey and Anne McCaffrey.
If there’s one thing as reliable in romance as the happily ever after, it’s romance readers’ eagerness to recommend books to newbies. This list offers a few places to start — but once you’re in, there’s a whole internet out there waiting to tell you what to read next.
I want to start at the beginning
A Court of Thorns and Roses
by Sarah J. Maas
The series that started it all! Maas’s “A Court of Thorns and Roses” began as a Y.A. series before transitioning to the adult section of the bookstore. In the first book, the human Feyre is brought as a captive to the faerie court of Tamlin, a High Lord of Prythian. Be prepared to wait a couple of books to understand the endgame: The arc of Feyre’s romance takes a little while to unfold (and gets spicier as it goes on). There are currently five books in the series, with at least one more novel promised, so it’s not too late to get it on the fun of obsessing over release schedules and fan theories.
If you read it and love it, try … “Faebound,” by Saara El-Arifi; A.K. Mulford’s Golden Court series; Mai Corland’s Broken Blades series; or the Last Binding trilogy, by Freya Marske.
How about the other romantasy everyone is talking about?
Fourth Wing
by Rebecca Yarros
Maas may have kicked things off, but Yarros launched romantasy into the stratosphere. “Fourth Wing,” the first novel in the Empyrean series, follows the fragile, bookish Violet Sorrengail on her unlikely journey to become a dragon rider. If the brutal military training academy doesn’t kill her, most likely one of her fellow cadets will; the top candidate is her dangerously alluring wingleader, Xaden Riorson. But Violet’s lived with a chronic illness her whole life, and she’s not ready to count herself out yet. With its perpetually life-or-death stakes and a sexy, propulsive plot, it’s no surprise “Fourth Wing” has taken BookTok by (onyx) storm.
If you read it and love it, try … N.E. Davenport’s Blood Gift duology; the Bound to Fire and Steel series, by Kit Rocha; or “To Cage a God,” by Elizabeth May.
Keep it nice and paranormal
Silver Silence
by Nalini Singh
Singh’s Psy-Changeling series has been running since 2006, but for readers who aren’t prepared to go all the way back to the start, 2017’s “Silver Silence” is a terrific place to jump in. The series features psychics, humans and shape-shifters jockeying for position as they work to rebuild a supernatural world scarred by decades of inequality and conflict between the three species. As is common in paranormal romance series, each book can be read as a stand-alone love story but also contributes to an overarching plot.
If you read it and love it, try … “Blood, Flesh, and Magic,” by Viano Oniomoh; Isabel Cooper’s Highland Dragons series; or the Guardian series, by Meljean Brook.
What if science fiction is more my jam?
Ocean’s Echo
by Everina Maxwell
Despite the best efforts of genre gatekeepers, sci-fi has nearly as long a tradition of mixing with romance as fantasy does, and can be just as swoony. “Ocean’s Echo” is a fast-paced space adventure that follows a flirty rebel telepath, Tennal, who is (illegally) ordered to submit to the mental control of an upstanding soldier named Surit. Luckily, Surit is much too honorable to perform a mind merge without Tennal’s consent, so the two agree to fake the sync until they can figure out a way to get Tennal to freedom. Political machinations, power dynamics and irresistible temptation ensue.
If you read it and love it, try … “Cordelia’s Honor,” by Lois McMaster Bujold; “Lady Eve’s Last Con,” by Rebecca Fraimow; or the 1990s TV show “Farscape.”
I’d like a cozy, magical rom-com
The Cottage Around the Corner
by D.L. Soria
Charlotte Sparrow is sure she can get her family’s struggling spell shop back on track — until the wealthy Sterling Fitzgerald opens a swanky magecraft firm in the very same town. When a series of magical plagues afflict the village, Charlie and Fitz must put their rivalry aside and work together to save their home. If you worship at the altar of Nora Ephron but have some issues with “You’ve Got Mail,” this book comes in clutch with a reimagining that’ll leave you wanting to give every single character a big warm hug.
If you read it and love it, try … “Fan Service,” by Rosie Danan; “A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping,” by Sangu Mandanna; “The Kiss Curse,” by Erin Sterling; or Lish McBride’s Uncanny Romance series.
Give me a full-blown shadow daddy
Neon Gods
by Katee Robert
Romantasy lives and dies by the figure of the “shadow daddy,” a brooding and dangerous Byronic hero who would rip the world apart for his girl (see: Xaden Riorson). This Hades/Persephone retelling puts a contemporary spin on a foundational shadow daddy, and also happens to be a terrific read. A caveat: If your tolerance for Demeter slander is, like mine, on the low side, “Neon Gods” may not be the book for you. Is it a fun, sexy romp that rightly established its author as a genre force to be reckoned with? Yes. Will I be hosting my own Eleusinian Mysteries this September, to which said author is not invited? Also yes.
If you read it and love it, try … “In the Vanishers’ Palace,” by Aliette de Bodard; “Briarley,” by Aster Glenn Gray; or pretty much any book by Scarlett St. Clair.
A lot of this feels a bit dark. Got anything silly and sexy?
I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com
by Kimberly Lemming
As the romantasy trend kicked into high gear, many major imprints scrambled to snap up self-published authors who had already been making a name for themselves in the indie fantasy space; Lemming was one of them. In a genre that often features dark romance and worlds on the brink of collapse, her latest novel is a breath of fresh air, featuring all the humor and high jinks that made her Mead Mishaps series so beloved. Come for the alien threesomes; stay for the wildlife biology.
If you read it and love it, try … T. Kingfisher’s Saint of Steel series; “Confounding Oaths,” by Alexis Hall; or “Sorcery and Small Magics,” by Maiga Doocy.
I want an immersive world and maximum pining
Empire of Sand
by Tasha Suri
Set in a fantasy world inspired by Mughal India, this book — and its sequel, “Realm of Ash” — is a true stunner, with gorgeous writing, rich world-building and the perfect balance of romance and fantasy. Mehr is a nomad, descended from desert spirits, who is forced into marriage with one of the Emperor’s mystics — only to find that he’s as much of a prisoner as she is. If you’re a Tamora Pierce adult looking for secondary world fantasy with enough pining to power the sun, this duology has you covered.
If you read it and love it, try … Milla Vane’s A Gathering of Dragons series; “The Starlight Heir,” by Amalie Howard; or Sylvie Cathrall’s Sunken Archives duology.
I prefer something grounded in the real world
Wings Once Cursed and Bound
by Piper J. Drake
Urban fantasy, which came to prominence with Emma Bull’s “War for the Oaks” in 1987, blends magical elements with the cityscapes of our contemporary world. Set in Seattle, Drake’s fantastic Mythwoven series incorporates an array of supernatural creatures — vampires, werewolves, fairies, fox spirits — who work in a consortium that tracks down mythical artifacts. In this series opener, our protagonist falls in love with a vampire and gets cursed by some very dangerous red shoes, all while trying to understand what it means to be a kinnaree (a mythical Thai bird princess).
If you read it and love it, try … “Bitter Medicine,” by Mia Tsai; Kit Rocha’s Beyond series; or Suleikha Snyder’s Third Shift series.
A.I. is everywhere — does that include romance?
The Death I Gave Him
by Em X. Liu
Human relationships with robots are a mainstay of science fiction, so of course they have crossed into romance territory. This moody, clever retelling of “Hamlet,” set in the mysterious Elsinore Labs, delves deep into questions of love, survival and personhood. At its heart, it’s a love story between our Hamlet, Hayden Lichfield, and the artificial intelligence, Horatio, that runs the lab. Now the cardinal rule of romance is that it must have a happy ending, and “The Death I Gave Him” doesn’t, quite. But that makes it the perfect read for romance skeptics — and this reader, at least, still found plenty to love.
If you read it and love it, try … “The Red Scholar’s Wake,” by Aliette de Bodard, or “The A.I. Who Loved Me,” by Alyssa Cole.
I want to sink my teeth into something scary
Vampires of El Norte
by Isabel Cañas
In this second-chance romance, set in 19th-century Mexico, the monsters aren’t just sexy metaphors: They’re genuinely terrifying. Néstor has believed for nine years that his childhood sweetheart, Nena, died at the hands of a vampire, only to learn that she — and the bloodsuckers who attacked her — are still very much alive. “Vampires of El Norte” is smart, lush and romantic as hell (and you may not be surprised to learn that the real monster was colonialism all along).
If you read it and love it, try … “The Wicked and the Willing,” by Lianyu Tan; Jordan L. Hawk’s Spirits series; or “The Last Phi Hunter,” by Salinee Goldenberg.
The key to my heart is a double-decker personal library
Beauty
by Robin McKinley
I have read this book, conservatively, 200 times. Published in 1978, it remains, to my mind, the most influential “Beauty and the Beast” retelling out there. (Disney got the idea for the library from this book! I will die on this hill!) McKinley’s Beauty was a wry, bookish horse girl decades before that was cool, and her story manages to be textured, weird and unexpected — while also maintaining all the key elements of the original fairy tale. It’s a model for how to make myths and folk tales feel fresh.
If you read it and love it, try … “Immortal,” by Sue Lynn Tan; “Fire and Hemlock,” by Diana Wynne Jones; or “The God and the Gumiho,” by Sophie Kim.
Illustration by Joyce Ho.
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